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Royal Rendezvous #2
Propositioned by a Princess
A princess and a tabloid journalist are natural enemies...
...So why does working together feel so right?
At a masquerade ball, Princess Aurelie has a hot, steamy hook-up with a woman in a mask. She never catches her name. She doesn't know how to find her. And she can't stop thinking about her for days afterward.
Which is why it's so unfortunate when the mystery woman turns out to be Nour Belhouane, a tabloid journalist and gossip-mongering bane of the royal family. All of Aurelie's fantasies about a romantic reunion with her mystery woman are quickly dashed.
But something strange is going on in the Alstadian capital city: destruction of historic buildings, shady development contracts, and public money disappearing. Aurelie wants to investigate, but she has to do so quietly. She needs a reporter who can dig in deep and help her uncover the truth. A real reporter, not a tabloid gossiper.
She's shocked when she finds Nour sneaking around, working to uncover the same mystery. Celebrity gossip might pay the bills, but investigative journalism is Nour's true talent and passion. When a shady development project threatens to tear down her home neighborhood, Nour searches for answers. So Aurelie has a proposition for Nour: they team up and work together to stop the destruction of a historic district.
And along the way, they realize that the instant electricity they both felt is still there, sizzling.
Content advisory: this book contains explicit sexual content. This book contains a scene that may be sensitive for some readers, in which police use tear gas against protesters.
...So why does working together feel so right?
At a masquerade ball, Princess Aurelie has a hot, steamy hook-up with a woman in a mask. She never catches her name. She doesn't know how to find her. And she can't stop thinking about her for days afterward.
Which is why it's so unfortunate when the mystery woman turns out to be Nour Belhouane, a tabloid journalist and gossip-mongering bane of the royal family. All of Aurelie's fantasies about a romantic reunion with her mystery woman are quickly dashed.
But something strange is going on in the Alstadian capital city: destruction of historic buildings, shady development contracts, and public money disappearing. Aurelie wants to investigate, but she has to do so quietly. She needs a reporter who can dig in deep and help her uncover the truth. A real reporter, not a tabloid gossiper.
She's shocked when she finds Nour sneaking around, working to uncover the same mystery. Celebrity gossip might pay the bills, but investigative journalism is Nour's true talent and passion. When a shady development project threatens to tear down her home neighborhood, Nour searches for answers. So Aurelie has a proposition for Nour: they team up and work together to stop the destruction of a historic district.
And along the way, they realize that the instant electricity they both felt is still there, sizzling.
Content advisory: this book contains explicit sexual content. This book contains a scene that may be sensitive for some readers, in which police use tear gas against protesters.
236 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 1, 2020
3 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Ellie Finch
6 books101 followersEllie Finch is a feline enthusiast, feminist, fangirl, and author. With a master's degree in International Conflict Resolution, she has a background in youth leadership, community-level peacebuilding, storytelling for social change, and social justice programming that empowers women and girls. As an author, Ellie independently publishes romance novels that celebrate humor in love, equal partnerships, and sexy consent. A proudly queer/bisexual woman, she writes both straight and queer love stories. She lives in Florida with her cinnamon-roll husband, and their snuggly, chunky cat.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 17, 2020
Could not get into this book featuring the enemies to lovers trope but with main characters who are truly awful human beings to each other. And yes, there's a main "plot" around a corrupt building developer with an even more disturbing aspect of race erasure, but clunky writing doesn't do this justice. Nor does the cover, which alludes to the opening chapters of this book and feel very out of place with the rest of the book's more serious plot-line. Could not tell if the author wanted this to be light and breezy (which MAY have helped soften the awful character behaviors--and explains the cover art) or more serious, but neither tone was successfully pulled off. This is a series I will definitely be skipping.
October 12, 2020
Okay, took me a while to read this. That was not an indication of the writing or the story. Once I made a point of starting, I so completely enjoyed it that I didn't waste any time in starting the next book.
I enjoyed that both of these women are headstrong, but they want to do good. Each of them has strengths to bring to the other. Plus, it isn't full of typical romance novel jobs. Princess Aurelie is a city planner and very good at what she does. That's wonderful to see.
This book came out a year ago, but it's so on the mark with what's going on. The story presents the downside of gentrification, peaceful protests, police corruption. It's all here, and that's been some of the main things going on since June. I found these sections enjoyably educational.
Another thing is that I've read contemporaries with made-up places before. If Alstadia were a real place, I would book travel there immediately. You know, once Americans are allowed to enter other countries. It feels so real, a place I'd love to visit. I get a feeling of Malta meets Monaco but its own bigger island nation.
My last thing I'd wish for this would world/series be a novella a spin-off or whatever for the bodyguard Gregory. He needs a love interest (or more. I'm not picking. He can handle it.)
I enjoyed that both of these women are headstrong, but they want to do good. Each of them has strengths to bring to the other. Plus, it isn't full of typical romance novel jobs. Princess Aurelie is a city planner and very good at what she does. That's wonderful to see.
This book came out a year ago, but it's so on the mark with what's going on. The story presents the downside of gentrification, peaceful protests, police corruption. It's all here, and that's been some of the main things going on since June. I found these sections enjoyably educational.
Another thing is that I've read contemporaries with made-up places before. If Alstadia were a real place, I would book travel there immediately. You know, once Americans are allowed to enter other countries. It feels so real, a place I'd love to visit. I get a feeling of Malta meets Monaco but its own bigger island nation.
My last thing I'd wish for this would world/series be a novella a spin-off or whatever for the bodyguard Gregory. He needs a love interest (or more. I'm not picking. He can handle it.)
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews